Twelve Days of Christmas
by minixoxmya
Summary: Troy makes Christmas special for Gabriella...even from thousands of miles away. T


**I hope everyone I hope you all had an exciting Christmas, I know there's lots of Christmas onshots floating around but I'd like to think this was a little bit original. It took me a really long time to get all the ideas together so I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Don't forget to review and let me know what you think. I know traditionally the twelve days of Christmas begin on Christmas day but I'll be doing it a little differently. Finally, I don't own anything except the plot for the story. **

**---**

I'll keep waiting

'til that day when you come back on home to me

Life's too short to live without you

Where you are is where I wonna be

I'll keep waiting – S Club 7 ~

_---_

December 14th

Twenty four year old Gabriella Montez woke up with a start as a gust of chilly Pennsylvania air swept across her face. She still wasn't used to the harsh northern winters and often forgot that leaving windows open over night was not a good idea.

Six months ago, she made the move from sunny California to wintery Pennsylvania with her boyfriend of six years when he accepted a job with a large international business firm.

After just two short months with the company, they asked him to spend three months at their office in Paris to close some important European business deals.

It had been difficult without him but Gabriella knew that in just two weeks he would be home not just for Christmas, but for the foreseeable future.

She smiled as she remembered the happy times they had shared together, two thousand one hundred days of pure bliss.

Gabriella's blissful day dream was broken by a small weight jumping on her bed and bouncing around.

"Daisy…what am I going to do with you?" Gabriella giggled as she grasped hold of the pug dog that had leapt onto her bed.

The tiny dog continued jumping around excitedly, licking Gabriella arms affectionately whenever she was close enough.

"You want to go for a walk? Is that what this is all about? Alright then, you let me get dressed and I'll take you out for a nice long walk, how does that sound?" Daisy barked happily and Gabriella giggled again as she pulled herself from the bed, throwing on a pair of jeans and a large sweater and putting her hair up into a braid and making her way downstairs.

"Daisy, come on baby girl." Gabriella bent down to put on the dogs leash but was interrupted by the loud ringing of the phone.

"Hello?" She asked quietly, hoping that it would be someone that she could quickly get rid of so that she could continue on with her day as planned.

"_Happy birthday girl_!" Gabriella frowned as the voice of her best friend filled her ears; quickly she pulled open the desk draw and grabbed her PDA.

It only took a second for her to notice the date.

"Oh, thanks Taylor," Gabriella laughed nervously as she spoke to her friend, hoping that her tone had sound excited enough to convince Taylor.

"_You forgot didn't you? Gabriella, how could you forget your own birthday?" _Taylor's aggravated voice forced Gabriella to sigh heavily as she looked out of the window at the snowy outdoors.

She hadn't forgotten her birthday, she knew it was coming; she just hadn't had a reason to look at a calendar to realize that in fact today was her birthday. Even after six months in Pennsylvania Gabriella was yet to make any solid friends, she had friends whom she worked with but none of them friendly enough to share coffee after work with, let alone sharing a birthday.

"I hadn't forgotten, there's just not much point celebrating when it's just me and Daisy. I really miss you guys and I miss Troy, celebrating like that alone would just make me miss you all more." She closed her eyes tightly as she spoke, willing the unwanted and unexpected tears to disappear.

When Gabriella had left California it had been anything but easy for the friends she was leaving behind. Taylor found it especially hard to watch her best friend disappear to the other side of the country, not knowing when she would see her again.

"_Are you sure you made the right decision Gabs? You know that if you ever change your mind you can always come home." _Gabriella knew that Taylor meant well, but her pessimistic comments didn't help lock away the negative emotions that were escaping from her body.

"Listen Taylor, I know you miss me and want me to come back to California, but this was the right decision for me. Thanks for calling and wishing me happy birthday but I really have to get on, Daisy needs a walk and stuff. Speak to you soon." With that said Gabriella hung up, leaving no time for Taylor to reply.

---

Troy Bolton smiled as he looked up at the clock that read two o'clock in the afternoon.

It was finally his lunch break and time to put some well thought out plans into action.

Today was the day that his favorite girl turned twenty four and even though he was three thousand seven hundred and eighty three miles away he was going to make sure that she had a special day.

He picked up the phone and dialed.

"_Hello Maria's flowers, Maria speaking, how can I help you?" _The sweet voice on the end of the phone answered cheerfully.

Hearing an accent that he was so used to caused Troy's smile to grow even further. He missed so many things about home, as much as he loved Paris it definitely wasn't what he had expected.

The next two weeks couldn't come too soon.

"Hello there Maria, I'm looking to have some flowers delivered to my girlfriend for her birthday today, would that be possible?" Troy put on his best happy voice, hoping that the lady on the end of the line would be able to fulfill his request.

He had carefully planned what his request would be, it wouldn't be completed today and he had decided that it would be silly to stress the sweet sounding lady with his elaborate plans at the very beginning…he would start slowly.

"_Of course, what can I put together for you? Would you like one of our special birthday bouquets?"_ Maria asked sweetly as she got a pen and paper together on her desk to arrange the flowers for the man on the other end of the phone.

Troy looked down at the list that was resting between his thumb and first finger. He had been meticulously planning for weeks on end for this day and there was no way that he was messing up now.

"Actually no, it would be perfect if you could deliver twelve red roses to 1856 South Seventh Street in Hershey." Troy said confidently as he followed the plan perfectly, not daring to deviate by even the smallest amount in fear of ruining the surprise.

His heart ached a little as he thought of the home that he had left behind; he could no longer bear to be away.

"_No worries, I'll have that done for you within the next couple of hours. Would you like to include a message?" _Maria asked kindly, grabbing a message card and awaiting the answer from Troy.

He had almost forgotten about the message that he wanted attached to the flowers, he had sent a separate birthday card and gift meaning that the card could be simple and would fit in perfectly with his plan.

"I would just like it to say 'To my beautiful Gabriella, I love you'." Troy smiled at his message; he missed being able to tell her how much he loved her whenever he felt like it and was so looking forward to taking her in his arms and telling her over and over again that she was his whole entire world.

After finishing up the telephone call with the final few details Troy sat back in his chair and looked at the picture that sat on his desk.

The elegant golden frame held a picture of Gabriella and himself, his lips were pressed lightly to her forehead and she leant against his arm smiling happily. He couldn't remember when the picture had been taken or even where it had been taken but he knew it was the one thing that had kept him going while he was away.

Quietly he chuckled to himself as he wondered what Gabriella's reaction would be.

---

Gabriella shook the snow from her gloves and wiped her wet feet on the mat before entering the comfortingly warm house.

After her conversation with Taylor she had taken a long walk around the neighborhood to allow herself to collect the thoughts that had been harshly thrust into her mind.

She often had days where she wondered if the decision to move across the country was the right one, but whenever she spoke to Troy, or even thought about the time they spent together, nothing else in the world seemed to matter.

"Come on Daisy; let's go get nice and snuggly warm." Gabriella spoke softly as she unhooked the leash and pulled the small dog into her arms.

She threw herself down on the couch and pulled the large fluffy red couch blanket over herself and snuggled down comfortably. It took Daisy a few minutes to find her ideal position but she soon settled next to Gabriella with her face tucked neatly in the crease of Gabriella's arm.

Just as a warm sleep was beginning to overtake her body, a brisk knock on the front door disturbed the peaceful atmosphere.

"You've got to be kidding me." Gabriella moaned in annoyance as she unwrapped herself from the blanket and made her way slowly towards the front door to discover what on earth the disturbance of her peace wanted.

As she opened the door slowly, fearful of whom she might reveal, she spotted a small lady with flowing long hair and olive skin that somehow seemed to glow as the mid morning sun shone against it.

In her hands were twelve of the most beautiful red roses she had ever seen.

"Delivery for Gabriella Montez," the lady spoke proudly as she handed the bunch of flowers to Gabriella, before smiling brightly and walking back down the pathway away from the house.

Gabriella frowned as she looked down at the flowers, searching hard for a card to identify their sender.

As she reached down, careful not to disturb the petals of the beautiful flowers, she grasped hold of the card that was nestled between the long stems and pulled it up gently to read it.

'_My beautiful Gabriella, I love you' _

Although her heart was smiling, her brain was still wondering who it could be that sent the flowers to her door.

She knew that it was probably Troy but without written confirmation of his name on the card, she couldn't possibly assume that it wasn't some freaky old man that had been stalking her for week on end.

"Stop being silly Gabriella, of course it's Troy." She spoke to herself as she shook off the thoughts of a strange man lurking in the snowy bushes and watching as she received the flowers he had sent her.

She pulled out her cell phone and typed a quick message to Troy, thanking for the beautiful flowers and wishing him to have a good day filled with really exciting business meetings.

Troy's departure had been anything but easy and separation was definitely taking its toll on Gabriella.

Time difference meant that she couldn't just pick up the phone whenever she felt the need to hear his voice and his extensive, lengthy business meetings meant that even when world time allowed for her to call he was busy anyway.

Life had been the only thing keeping her going, the daily routine of getting up, going to work, getting groceries and coming home again was the only thing that was forcing her out of bed in the mornings.

The loud ringing of her cell phone broke her away from her deep dreamy thoughts.

"Hello?" she spoke confidently as she picked up the phone, hoping desperately that Troy would be on the other end of the line.

She was only left disappointed.

"_Darling, happy birthday. It's such a shame you refused to come and spend it with us,"_ her mother's grand yet snobbish fake English accent shot into her ears, she could feel a headache coming on already.

"Mom, would it kill you to speak normally just once in your life. You're not English and you never were, just because you've set up home in some upper class patch of English countryside doesn't mean you need to talk like that." She didn't mean to get frustrated at her mother; it was just something that always happened.

Her mother, Allietta Ricci, married Mexican construction worker Juan Montez at just eighteen years old, soon before the birth of their first and only daughter Gabriella. Not long after Gabriella's tenth birthday, Juan was been killed in a horrific car accident that left the whole family broken.

With none of her original Italian American family to turn to, Allietta looked to friends to heal the hole that had been left by the death of her late husband.

That's when she met English business man Hugo Myers.

A sordid affair began between Allietta and married Hugo who deserted his family of five in England and moved to America to live with Allietta and a broken Gabriella permanently.

The loss of her father and the introduction of his obvious replacement forced Gabriella further into the deep depression she had been feeling ever since Juan's death. Allietta desperately tried to convince Gabriella that Hugo was better for their family than Juan ever had been, he had more money, more prospects and a better background, but her words only pushed Gabriella further away.

On Gabriella's eighteenth birthday Allietta and Hugo announced that they would be getting married and moving back to Hugo's countryside hometown in England to set up a home ideal for raising children.

Not only was Gabriella sick at the thought of her mother marrying another man but she quickly realized that her mother was still young enough to have more children should she choose to do so. She had always imagined she would remain an only child forever, she liked it that way, with her father gone having a brother or sister meant she would be even more connected to the man who had forced his replacement.

As soon as Allietta became Mrs. Allietta Myers, something drastically changed. Her attitude towards the disadvantaged, poor and hard done by became one of disgust and her opinions of people she once cherished as friends turned from admiration to believing they were all lower in society than she ever had been.

Gabriella knew that she shouldn't think about her mother as a person of mistrust, ignorance and arrogance but she couldn't help but feel that money had ruined the wonderful woman that her mother used to be.

"_Stop being so silly Gabriella, this is my normal voice. I talk like this with everybody. Tell me darling, how is Troy getting on in Paris? I'm surprised he hasn't meant some highly paid French beauty and decided to stay." _Gabriella shook her head as her mother threw one of her spiteful comments her way, just what she needed on her birthday, especially on a day where she had been questioning how much longer she could cope without having Troy around.

"Don't you hear yourself mom? You're a horrible person; I'm surprised you have any friends at all. Although I suppose they're all like you aren't they, doing horrible underhanded things to get on top. How dare you say anything about Troy, you know nothing about our relationship and you never will. I'd be so worried you'd try and seduce him behind my back because well let's be honest it wouldn't be the first time would it mom? If you've got nothing nice to say to me please just don't call," she withheld from hanging up the phone, desperate to hear an apology from her mother even though she knew it was more than unlikely.

"_Well I am very offended that you think you can speak to me this way. I am far more important in this world than you will ever be Gabriella; your father would be ashamed if he saw that you had done so little with your life."_ Gabriella wished she had hung up the phone, she wished with everything she had that her mother could just be proud of her for even a second.

It was then that she realized her mother had become everything that Gabriella hated in a person.

"No mom, he'd be ashamed of you and everything that you've become." Gabriella slammed the phone down hard, feeling anger rushing through her body and no believing that her mother had just ruined her birthday.

She picked up her cell phone from the couch and opened up the message that was flashing on the screen.

'_I love you so much beautiful, have a great birthday, can't get you off my mind. See you soon, Troy xxx' _

She smiled to herself as the love she felt from Troy replaced the disgust for her mother, it was going to be a long two weeks but she knew that she could get through it.

---

December 24th

Gabriella looked around at masses of flowers that surrounded her, filling the room with a beautiful scent of summer.

She couldn't quite believe her eyes as she scanned exactly how many flowers had been sent to her, seventy eight flowers stood tall in various vases throughout the house.

All sent by one very special person.

The memories she had collected over the past eleven days were memories she hoped would last in her mind forever, she feared a day when she became too old to remember the beautiful things that happened to her.

The flowers had all been neatly placed around the house, giving her full opportunity to enjoy their beauty every time she entered a different room.

She moved forward slowly and grasped hold of the pile of cards that had come along with the eleven flower deliveries that had arrived at her door each morning.

'_Eleven red carnations for the woman I adore.' _

Gabriella smiled as she read the first card, Troy never failed to amaze her with his beautiful words and kind thoughts. He had worked so hard to put together something that she would love, even from so far away, and she knew he wouldn't stop until he had it perfect.

She picked up the next card and read the words carefully. It had come attached to ten beautiful tiger Lilies that filled the whole house with their beautiful scent.

'_Because I'm so proud of you for everything you had achieved this year' _

Last fall Gabriella graduated from UCLA, earning herself a Bachelor of the Arts degree in English.

The whole four years had been a battle against her mother who believed she should have been a doctor like her father had always planned for her, but her life had taken her down a different path.

Troy had been immensely proud of Gabriella as he watched her graduate with honors from one of the best schools in the country and begin the life she had planned for herself.

It had been a struggle to find a job in California that gave her enough credit for all of the hard work that she had put in, every job that she applied for came with a disadvantage point, whether that was not enough money or too many hours.

She never did find the one job that inspired her, that was until they made the move to Pennsylvania and she was offered the job she had been dreaming of.

The editor of Philadelphia Enquirer had offered Gabriella her own column space in the Thursday edition of the newspaper , as well as offering her the chance to write for other sections if she came up with a story that he thought the readers would enjoy.

This job had been everything that she had been looking for, the hours were perfect because a lot of the work was done from home and the money was twice what she was receiving at her old job in Los Angeles.

Gabriella's mother Allietta had been more than disappointed when Gabriella had announced she wouldn't be attending medical school as planned, and she became even more disappointed with her daughter after finding out that she was declaring and English major. She had told Gabriella that if she follow what had been planned for her then she would no longer be offering any help with money.

It broke Gabriella to watch her mother become a completely different woman for the sake of a man. It meant a lot to Gabriella that Troy had stuck by her through everything and not cut her off completely at the first sign of family drama.

She really had achieved more than she could ever have dreamed of during the year and the knowledge that Troy acknowledged her achievements and was proud of her for all her hard work brought a beautiful smile to her face.

The words on the next card forced out shy giggles from deep down inside happy soul. The card had come attached to nine beautiful pink orchids.

'_Because these flowers are almost as beautiful as you' _

Gabriella had wondered how much money Troy was spending on this lavish show of his affection towards her. It bothered her to know that she was spending so much money but after speaking to him on the phone he had advised her to just allow him to spoil her and to make sure she was in at the same time every morning to receive the packages.

On the same day that she received the orchids, Troy informed Gabriella that he wouldn't be able to make it home for Christmas as originally planned. The business deal they were working on with another company from Portugal had fallen through and he needed to stay an extra week to hold reconciliation talks and try his best to get the deal back together again.

To say that Gabriella was upset that she would be spending Christmas long was a understatement but she knew that Troy was working hard to build a good life to the two of them and any children who may come along in the future and she knew that if his boss had asked him to stay on for that extra week, nothing she could say would be able to change that.

She had never been one to mope around about her misfortunes so she decided she would just continue on her days as normal and Christmas would be held when Troy finally arrived home.

The next card came nestled amongst some of Gabriella's favorite flowers. Troy had sent eight white daisies, a flower that reminded Gabriella of a happy childhood of carefree fun and game.

'_Because you always make me happy'_

Gabriella knew that the message was less about the flowers meant to the world but more about what the flowers mean to her.

Her father had taught her to make daisy chains at the park in the summer before her sixth birthday. They had spent the whole afternoon basking in the glorious sun and making chains that Gabriella handed out to anyone who would take them.

It had been one of the days that had remained in Gabriella's bank of happy memories, these had been the only things that kept her going through the death of her father and the long, painful and bump road to recovery from her grief.

Troy had always taken notice of the small things that Gabriella mentioned. He never ceased to surprise Gabriella with gifts that she hadn't even realized that she hinted at.

She giggled again as she remembered a birthday present Troy had given her a two years previously. She had complained one day that when she was sick her feet got cold and as she unwrapped the medium sized birthday package she revealed super warm microwaveable bed socks.

She had never mentioned to Troy that daisies were her favorite flowers but she knew he watched as she sat in the back yard every summer making chains with all of the daisies she could find.

The next card was one that had puzzled Gabriella, it wasn't that the words confused her but it was the message behind the words that caused confusion in her mind.

'_Because I know we'll always be happy together' _

The card came with seven perfect pink peonies; the flowers sat beautifully in the vase and complemented the sky grey curtains in the living room beautifully.

They had never had a proper conversation about marriage but it seemed both Troy and Gabriella had an unspoken agreement between each other that one day it would happen.

Gabriella had just always assumed it would be sooner rather than later, it was that thought that sent mixed messages flying around Gabriella's brain.

She had always wondered when Troy would propose, she had imagined it would be on a big occasion like her college graduation or an anniversary or a special birthday but as each of those passed without a proposal she began to wonder whether it would come at all.

When she had first read the words on the card as they rested gently amongst the beautiful flowers her mind began to wonder, was a proposal coming soon or was it just Troy implying that they would be together for the foreseeable future with no significant change in their status.

She tried her best not to think about it, knowing that if she thought the event was coming closer and then the moment passed by without Troy making the move she would be bitterly disappointed.

In her mind she decided that it was best not to hope for it but her heart desperately wished it would be coming soon.

'_Because you're the only girl I ever want to wake up to'_

Gabriella smiled as she smelled the sweet scent of the flowers that belonged to the card in her hand. Gabriella had placed the six blue violets that had housed the card on the windowsill in the master bedroom to allow the beautiful scent of the flowers to be evenly spread through the house.

The words on the card took Gabriella back to happy memories of the past that she and Troy had spent together.

They reminded her of the first night they had spent together at his house just after her mother announced she would be getting married and moving half way across the world.

After Gabriella's somewhat disastrous eighteenth birthday party; Troy had taken her back to his house to escape the reality of the future.

They had set out to watch movies and eat junk food but had ended up snuggled together sound asleep in his bed with the TV blearing in the background, the physical and emotional exhaustion of the day too much for them to overcome.

When Gabriella had woken up the next morning and snuggled herself deeper into Troy's arms, she realized that waking up with someone you love is one of the best feelings in the world and she never wanted it to end.

It reassured her that Troy clearly felt the same way.

The next delivery that arrived at her door comprised of five sunshine yellow tulips tied delicately together with a silky red ribbon. The young girl that delivered the flowers had been different from all the other mornings, she had handed Gabriella the card separately from the flowers and smiled, wishing Gabriella a merry Christmas before she descended down the path.

'_Because I would be absolutely hopeless without you' _

The vision of a hopeless Troy had almost made Gabriella giggle, the thought of him sitting in the living room in just his boxers and drinking beer while watching basketball on ESPN because she was away was something she would never have imagined Troy doing.

She wondered if he too was struggling to cope with the space between them, and whether he had been wondering how much longer he to carry on without them being together.

It was never the loss of sexual contact that had bothered Gabriella but more the loss of the physical and emotion connection that they shared between them. Most of all she missed waking up on a Sunday morning and snuggling deep into his warm protective arms.

All that was keeping her going was the knowledge that he would be home soon.

The next day's card was the one that baffled Gabriella the most, as with marriage they had never talked about in detail about having children; it had just been something that had always been imagined and assumed both Troy and herself.

The card had come tied to four stalks of wonderfully scented orange blossom that had been presented to her by the same young girl who had wished her a merry Christmas the previous day.

Gabriella remembered it as the first time she had spoken any other words than 'Merry Christmas' and 'another delivery for you today Miss Montez'. As she handed over the flowers to Gabriella she had expressed her opinion of how clear it was that whoever was sending Gabriella these flowers everyday must have been 'totally into her' as she so delicately put it.

Gabriella smiled at the memory and chuckled to herself as she remembered quickly thanking the small girl and closing the door quickly, desperately trying to escape any lengthy conversation about her private life that may or may not have ensued.

'_Because I know you'll make a beautiful mom one day'_

It wasn't until that day that Gabriella realized that the flowers Troy was sending and the words on the card must have had some kind of correlation.

All the effort that Troy had to clearly put into making each and every one of the deliveries special shone through and made them all that little bit more special. He had obviously taking time out of his manic schedule to think about her and the flowers that would have meaning that meant something to not just her but to them.

Children had always been something they had mentioned in passing but it wasn't something that they had planned for or hoped for anytime soon.

It was definitely something they would enjoy in the future but with both of their careers going so well it wouldn't be fair on them or the child they would bring into the world if their whole hearts weren't in it.

This would definitely be a card that would need discussion upon Troy's return home.

The next day brought a delivery which Gabriella now considered her favorite. The young delivery girl brought three golden poppies to her door and handed them over with a bright smile before swiftly leaving again…much to Gabriella's relief.

Gabriella knew that Golden poppies were the flower of California and it didn't take her long to figure out why Troy had picked this particular type of poppy.

'_Because I know you miss California' _

She hoped that she had been better at hiding her feelings regarding their move, but it seemed obvious now that Troy had been in the know the whole time about how much she missed their previous sunny home.

She also hoped that Troy know no matter how much she missed the sunny state, she never resented or regretted their move to Pennsylvania.

As she began to look more into the long term of their lives she had realized that the move would be the best thing for their futures.

Their jobs were better so the house that they were living in was considerably better than the one that they had had in California; the environment was better and far safer than that of Los Angeles and most of its surrounding towns.

In secret Gabriella also noted that schools were better and the opportunities for extra curricular activities were far better than the ones available where they had once lived. She would never admit to Troy that she considered those things before agreeing to move but it had always been at the back of her mind.

Sighing she brought one of the poppies to her nose and took in their sweet scent, closing her eyes and imagining the warm sandy beaches where previous Christmases had been spent. When she opened her eyes to look out of the window, she was greeted by the white landscape she had always dreamed of as a child.

Even through the two places were completely different in weather, prospects and memories, it became clear to her that wherever Troy was would always be home.

---

So far it had been a quiet Christmas Eve spent pottering around the house and enjoying the flowers that had arrived over the last eleven days as well as remembering the sweet words written on each of the cards.

The morning's delivery brought flowers Gabriella had never seen before; when she had asked the young girl who had delivered them she was informed that they were variegated tulips.

The two beautiful flowers were made up of large red and white petals that had swirly patterns making them some of the most visually beautiful flowers she had received.

The flowers sat perfectly in the dining room that had been painted a deep shade of red at Gabriella's request and complemented the red and white paintings that hung on the walls.

'_Because every time I look at you, I get lost in your eyes'_

This was something Gabriella could absolutely relate to, from the very first moment she see her own chocolate eyes on Troy she had been mesmerized by his deep ocean blue eyes.

They had been the first thing she had fallen in love with, and to this very day she still couldn't believe the beauty was omitted from them.

Troy had always hated it when she called him beautiful, he was a firm believer that men can't be beautiful only handsome, but Gabriella was convinced that he was wrong.

The only thoughts that went through her mind as she lost herself within the blue were thoughts of sheer beauty and amazement.

Sighing she placed down the last card on the coffee table and glanced at the clock that hung on the wall.

Eleven o'clock in the evening.

The memories had caused time to fly and Gabriella's mind to grow tired.

It was most definitely time for bed, time to be just one more day closer to seeing Troy again.

---

December 25th

It was Christmas day but Gabriella felt no great need to haul herself out of bed into the cold air. With no friends and family due to visit and no children desperately waiting to open their presents, Gabriella saw no reason why she couldn't spend an extra couple of hours in bed before taking a nice long relaxing bubble bath.

She wasn't expecting a flower delivery today; she knew that no one would be delivering on such a special holiday, so she was content that she had no limitations of what she could do with her day.

"Merry Christmas Daisy Dog," Gabriella kissed the puppies head as she picked her up from the floor and placed her down onto the bed gently. "I'll take you for a nice long Christmas walk this morning, even though I know you hate the snow on your paws." Gabriella giggled as the puppy made squeaking noises as if trying to reply.

Daisy had been so important to Gabriella over the last three months; she knew the dog would only become more important to her as the length of time Troy had to be away extended for an unknown period.

As she sunk herself into the warm bubbly water, that she had prepared for herself not too much earlier, she felt all of the tense muscles in her body relax as a calm wave of happy emotions swept through her being.

It was nice to feel relaxed, the past three months were the first months she had ever been home alone for more than a few days, her mother had been gone for long periods of time but she had always spent those with Troy for company.

Now not only was she home alone but she was alone in a new state with no particular friends to call on for help. Secretly this was a thought that bothered Gabriella; she had always been a natural worrier and not having anyone around to call on if there was a problem caused her worries to mount in epic proportions.

Unfortunately her precious moment of relaxation was disturbed by a firm knock on the door.

Frowning, she quickly got out of the tub and dried off before throwing on a pair of track pants and one of Troy's large sweatshirts.

She hadn't been expecting anybody to knock at her door today and she hoped it was no one important, her untidy imagine definitely wouldn't leave a good impression.

"I'm coming!" She called out as she pulled the key off the hook and unlocked the door.

Pulling it open expecting to see the young delivery girl who had been there like clockwork recently, she put on the uniform smile and rehearsed the words she would say in her mind.

But the smile and the words disappeared.

She closed her eyes tightly and opened them again, praying desperately that the figure before her wasn't just a picture in her imagination. As she opened them again she observed the figure still standing at her door, this finally allowed her to believe it was true.

Troy Bolton was stood on the doorstep.

He had knocked on the door of his own home, holding a single dark pink rose, to surprise her for Christmas.

"You're here." These were the only words Gabriella's mind allowed her to speak as she took in the image of the man she had missed so terribly for the last three months.

He smiled as he handed her the flower, wrapping his free arm around her waist as she accepted and pulling her tight to his body.

"That's to say how thankful I am for all the things that you have done for me and for letting me your life with you. I love you so much," he whispered against her head as he felt the tears from her eyes soak through the material of his shirt.

He was home.

And that's the way they both hoped it would remain for many Christmases to come.

---

**Phew finally finished! I hope you enjoyed it and didn't think that it was too cheesy. I worked super hard so I would appreciate hearing what you all thought. I hope you have all enjoyed your Christmases and gotten lots of exciting presents. Merry Christmas!**


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